1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drag device for fishing reels, especially, double bearing type fishing reels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The known drag devices for double bearing type fishing reels include a drag device of a system in which a drag mechanism is provided on a handle shaft as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 12374/1986, and a drag device of a system in which a drag mechanism is provided on a spool shaft as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 204476/1987.
In the drag device of a system in which a drag mechanism is provided on a handle shaft, a drag regulating knob is turned with the handle shaft. Therefore, a drag regulating operation cannot be carried out while a fishing line is wound, and the dimensions of the drag regulating knob are limited, so that the regulating operation cannot be carried out speedily and smoothly. In the drag device of a system in which a drag mechanism is provided on a spool shaft, these drawbacks can be eliminated. However, since the spool shaft is rotated with the pressing force of the spool shaft, which is pressed axially, applied to a bearing, the spool shaft in rotary motion becomes heavy, and a spool also becomes heavy due to the drag mechanism, so that the rotating performance of the spool during a fishing line casting operation becomes inferior. Moreover, since this drag mechanism is formed so that it serves also as a clutch, it cannot be operated as an independent clutch, and the operability thereof is low.
The techniques for eliminating the drawbacks encountered in these two types of drag devices are known from the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5126/1983. According to the techniques, a driving gear is coupled to a handle shaft directly only during a fishing line take-up operation, and a drag mechanism is provided on a shaft other than the handle shaft and a spool shaft and directly coupled to a pinion on the spool shaft via a gear, whereby the braking of the drag mechanism is done only when the spool is rotated reversely.
However, when a fish draws the fishing line with a force larger than the dragging force of a drag device of this system during a fishing line take-up operation, a fishing line take-up action is made preferentially with the driving gear coupled directly to the handle shaft, so that a dragging operation is not carried out in accordance with the level of the fishing line drawing force of the fish to cause the fishing line to be broken.